<html><body><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;"><div>I've been lucky in that I came into my position when there was already active teen programming. At the time, our library put on three monthly teen events: an anime club, a teen writers group and the Teen Advisory Board. We get, with a few exceptions, the same general group showing up at all three meetings. The main challenge was changing the TAB from what it was at the time, mostly a chance for the teens to hang out, play games and eat pizza, to a group that was actually able and willing to give me advice. There were a few initial meetings once I took the reigns that started with "This meeting is going to be long, lame, and generally un-fun, but I'm feeding you, so stick around." Since that time, I've gotten valuable input on programming, the collection and setup of the YA area, also, we've been able to implement a few new programs, a monthly crafting group and a knitting group that has an almost entirely separate set of attendees.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I suppose my advice for creating a new group would depend heavily on what kind of usage your YA department gets. If there's a core group, or even one or two teens that tend to appear at whatever existing programming your library offers, snag them first. There are a few teens here that act as ringleaders of the group here which has really been invaluable for crowd control if nothing else. If there isn't a core group, keep an eye out for folks that tend to make heavy use of the YA area, hanging out after school or just in there to read a lot, ask what kind of programs they might be interested in. We've had our largest attendances at our Anime Club meetings, but it isn't something that works everywhere.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>As far as contact with the schools, I haven't had the chance to get out and visit the local schools for booktalks, though it is something our library is looking into. Our children's department has a good working relationship with the local schools and visits on a regular basis, hopefully that can be a springboard for our YA department here. We have also had one of the English teachers at the local Middle School bring classes for tours of the library. 120 or so teens left the library with a schedule of events for the next three months and a library card application form. If you have the ability to host something like that, I would highly recommend it, every time I see one of those kids come in to get a library card it brightens my day a bit.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I suppose the best advice I can offer from my experience boils down into a few points</div>
<div>-Expect to be lame: It took me about 2 weeks with teens to realize that I will never be cool. Own it.</div>
<div>-Expect noise: There's a balance that you have to strike between having an active teen group that regularly hangs out after school and having a quiet and peaceful library. Not everyone will have the same balance point.</div>
<div>-Food: I've had programs bomb, even when they fail, they fail less with food.</div>
<div>-Ground rules: I started with two, "no face-to-anything-else contact on library property" and "don't be a menace." They work ok, though one of the more productive meetings that we had involved going over the library's acceptable use policy and explaining why some of those rules existed. Once they realized that the rules weren't written specifically to ruin their fun we managed to have a nice conversation and I got some feedback for their expectations of us, we now have an informal third rule of "no creepers."</div>
<div>-Be excited: It really doesn't matter what you're excited about. You'll be surprised at the shared interests.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Hope this helps!</div>
<div>-Jon</div>
<div> </div>
<div>---</div>
<div>Jonathan Harris</div>
<div>Adult and Teen Services</div>
<div>North Canton Public Library</div>
<div>330.499.4712</div>
<div>fortunatum musa meretrixicus ex perseverans</div></span></body></html>